Chapter Eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Riff

As far back as I remembered, everyone called me Riff.

I guess it was a combination of reasons. One, it was a small town we were raised in, and a lot of people used nicknames in the area. Two, we were often getting into little bits of trouble, hence the riff/raff thing. But, more than anything, I guess the nicknames played back to the fact that both Raff and I had real names that started with Rs.

"Reid," I told Vienna. "Not as interesting as Riff, but that's the name on all my government papers."

"No one calls you that? Not even your brother?" she asked, brows pinched.

"No. I think the last time I heard someone say it was when Raff and I were in a really dicey situation, and I hadn't responded to Riff several times, so he called out my real name." The memory of it still made my chest hurt, the raw panic in my brother's voice as he said it.

"How long ago was that?" she asked.

"Couple years."

She pressed her lips together for a second. The cracks were getting a little bit better, but they still looked painfully dry. "Reid," she said in that sweet voice of hers, the sound of my name on her lips doing something to my chest, making it, I dunno, kinda drop or something like that. "I like it," she said.

I never really cared one way or the other. But, suddenly, I really hoped she kept calling me by that name from now on.

"If you want to know Raff's name, you're gonna have to ask him yourself."

"I'll do that," she said. "So, wait, are those names of your brothers not their names?"

"Some are, some aren't. Obviously, Slash isn't his real name. And Coach is a nickname he got on the inside. His real name is Saul. Bikers often go by ‘road' names. Just a part of the culture, I guess. I mean, there's a guy at the mother chapter who goes by the name Pagan."

"I guess the road names sound more… intimidating than most real names," she said, nodding. "What's a mother chapter?"

"The original MC," I explained. "We are what is called a ‘sister' chapter. And we have another sister chapter in Golden Glades. Florida," I added at her blank look. "And there's a new club opening in Texas," I added.

I'd been looking forward to that, thinking that it might allow for Raff and I to slow down a bit, since they would almost be a halfway point between Shady Valley and Golden Glades. Which might allow for us to just travel back and forth to Texas rather than all the way to Florida ourselves all the time.

"Oh, wow. I didn't realize there were so many, you know, chapters. Do you visit with them?"

"Raff and I spend a lot of time in Golden Glades, but no one else does really. And the only ones of us who have been to our mother chapter in Navesink Bank are Slash, Sway, and Crow."

"Where's Navesink Bank?"

"New Jersey," I told her.

"So you have clubs on, like, each coast," she concluded, and it was the first time I realized that was probably exactly why the president of the mother chapter had opened where they had. To kind of own the exports on each border.

Where was next after Texas? Somewhere up along Canada?

"Yeah," I agreed. "We aren't near the coast. But it's not far if we need to be there. We could take a day trip there at some point if you'd like to see the ocean."

There was a spark of interest there for a second before the guards went back up. And as much as I understood why they were there, I really hoped that, one day, she would feel safe enough to be excited about things in life again.

"Maybe," she agreed, nodding, then getting up to feed Vernon before huddling back into her nest in the bed with her book.

We both went to bed early, knowing Raff would be at the door at the crack of dawn to get going again.

As we packed up the car for the final time, I couldn't help but think it was kind of bittersweet. I'd enjoyed being ‘alone' with Vienna for the past few days. And going back to Shady Valley meant sharing her with everyone else.

But, I reminded myself as I drove, that was what she needed. A support system. Friends. Not just a comfort person who made her feel safe.

"Well, my sweet girl, I know it doesn't look like much," Raff said as he pulled down the main drag of our sleepy little town, "but welcome to Shady Valley. Annnd… that's it," he said after we turned away from the main street with a few businesses flanking either side. "Blink and you might miss it, right?" he asked.

It kind of reminded me a bit of that town in Wyoming now. Small. Not a lot of ‘outsiders' around.

I thought that maybe she would learn to find comfort in that. Lots of familiar faces. Small stores that wouldn't be jam-packed full of people.

My only concern, as I glanced back to see her eyeing it, was the prison. The potential for newly released inmates, ones who had done crimes that would scare her, walking around too.

I mean, as a whole, not many stuck around in Shady Valley. They had homes and families elsewhere across the state.

But I understood if she was worried about it.

"Where are you going?" I asked when Raff didn't immediately go toward the clubhouse.

"Just being a good tour guide and giving Vienna a full tour of the town," he said. "This right here is the suburbs," he said as we made our way toward that part of town. "Not much to say about that. Then the schools," he said. "And the apartments, pretty self-explanatory too. Out that way, there's some farmland. And, of course, the Death Valley mountains."

"They're… intimidating looking," Vienna said.

We'd seen our fair share of mountains through Utah and Nevada which had me agreeing. There was something, I don't know, looming about the mountains here.

"Now, this right here," Raff said as he turned down another road that would curve us back toward the town again, "is what the locals call Millionaire's Row. This is where all the rich folk live."

"Including the Irish mafia family I told you about," I explained. "The Murphy brothers," I added.

"Don't forget the Bratva," Raff declared.

"What's the Bratva?" she asked, watching the mansions as we drove past them.

"The Bratva is the Russian mafia. You don't have to worry about them either. We might not be… close to them like we are with the Murphys, but they're allies of sorts. They own the pool hall in town."

"Really? Why?" she asked.

"Well, when most of your income comes from doing wickedly illegal deeds," Raff started, making me snort, "you need to find a way to excuse all that money you get to Uncle Sam, who is going to always want his money. So you open a legit business to run your money through. The Russians have the pool hall. The Irish have a pub."

"What do you guys have?"

"Mostly just the karate studio right now," I supplied. "And in a smaller capacity, Morgaine's business ventures. But we're always talking about opening new businesses in town."

"Lord knows the town could use it," Raff agreed.

"What about the other chapters?" she asked.

"Golden Glades has a repair shop and a car parts store. They used to jack and strip cars, so that made sense for them," I told her. "And Navesink Bank has a lot going for itself now. Car place. A shooting range. Other shit too, can't remember."

We drove through town again, and as we made our way past The Bog, three of the Murphy brothers moved out, each waving toward us.

I didn't miss the way Vienna sank lower in her seat.

"Those were the Murphy brothers," I explained to her, wanting her to know the safe faces in town.

"And that is one of the C.O.s that Coach likes to fuck with."

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently, some of the corrections officers in the prison are complete dicks to the inmates," I explained. "Ever since Coach got out, he's been fucking with them in little ways. Like he stole some wood that was delivered to one of their driveways to build the bookshelves in his room."

"Wait. Isn't Coach the zen meditation guy?" she asked.

"He says he can be all zen and a menace to society. Calls it balance," Raff explained. "Now up there, before the road to the prison," he went on, pointing out the windshield, "is the town's motel. Where we all had to live once for months as we fixed up the warehouse."

"That sounds… uncomfortable," she said, squinting off in the distance.

"At times, it was three of us to a room," Raff said, doing a dramatic shiver. "And the gas station and the convenience store are up that way too. But, now, it is time to go home," he said.

I glanced back toward her, trying to gauge her reaction to hearing the clubhouse referred to as home.

But she seemed to have a soft look as she watched the warehouse come into view.

"It's… huge," she declared as we got closer.

"Fifteen thousand square feet," I told her. "Divided equally among the three levels."

"No wonder your bedrooms are so big," she said as Raff pulled into the lot where weeds were relentlessly pushing through the cracks in the asphalt.

Raff slowed the car as an orange-colored chicken with a comically large red comb came running across the lot, hellbent on grabbing whatever kind of bug it was chasing. The rest of her friends were pecking lazily at the ground as Coach kept a casual eye on them while he slowly flipped himself up into a headstand.

"Wow," Vienna said, too impressed to remember her usual trepidation toward men.

"Yeah, that fucker is so bendy he could practically suc—" Raff started, cutting off when he realized what he was about to say, "get a sideshow job as a contortionist," he supplied quickly.

Vienna wasn't paying too much attention right then anyway as she glanced at the building, taking slow, deep breaths.

Raff shot me a look as he cut the engine and climbed out, wanting to give us a minute.

"It's gonna be alright, darlin'," I assured her, turning fully in my seat to face her. "It's not like everyone is going to be standing in a line waiting to meet you," I added. "If you want, we can go right up to the room and let you and Vernon settle in before you meet anyone."

Just having that option seemed to ease the tension in her shoulders as she pulled her bison jacket on, disappearing beneath the fluffy fabric.

"I'll be okay," she said, though whether she was speaking to herself or me was anyone's guess.

"Yeah, you will be," I agreed, opening her door for her as she clutched Vernon to her chest so he didn't get away.

I reached back into the backseat, gathering her bag of books and her pillows and blanket. In case she did need to make a mad dash for the bedroom, and would want to build her little cocoon to climb into and decompress.

"Ready?" I asked once I had it all in my hands.

She looked over at me, taking a deep breath, and nodded.

"Yes."